Review: Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston

Amari and the Night Brothers is an excellent middle-grade fantasy book that can be read and enjoyed by adults. It follows the adventures of a young girl named Amari who discovers that there is a supernatural world that exists right alongside and within the normal world she's so used to. Her brother, who is now missing, has left her a nomination for a tryout at the Department of Supernatural Affairs, so she has the opportunity to go to a summer camp and try out for a position in the Bureau. This not only open up a whole new world for her, it also allows her to find out more about why he's missing and to look for him. 

What follows is an excellent adventure where Amari learns to deal with an navigate her role in the supernatural world while at the same time learning to deal with and understand the racism and prejudice she faces in the real world. From the very beginning of the book the author shines a light on the prejudice that Black children face in their schools and daily lives in America and honestly portrays the struggles they have to go through. It's so refreshing to read a book that does this so well and at the same time weaves an excellent story full of magic and adventure. 

There are some great sibling relationships and friendships in the book that develop in interesting ways over the course of the book. And, of course, the book explores rivalries as well as bullying. Amari is learning a lot about herself and about human nature as she learns about this supernatural world. 

I love the way the author is able to weave his world-building in with very brief mentions of well-known myths and stories from our world that deftly explain how the supernatural world connects with the real one. It's very effective and flows well within the story while focusing on Amari's goals and interests. 

This book is the first in a series, but it stands alone very well and tells a complete story from beginning to end. You won't be disappointed by cliffhangers or anything like that. 

I didn't know if I should mention Harry Potter or not, but I think the comparison will be at the top of your mind even if I don't. I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter books and I think Amari and the Night Brothers does what the HP books did so well in terms of giving a sense of the magical and showing a young protagonist discovering a magical world. At the same time, Amari's story is unique and completely independent of HP, it does it's own thing, but I think it stands shoulder to shoulder with HP in terms of impact and I love that we get to see that type of story, the kid-discovers-magical-world story, from the POV of a young Black girl and see how different and unique this same set-up can be when looked at through a different lens. As others have mentioned, while this book deals with magical/supernatural things it feels a lot like an action/sci-fi story with the Bureau of Supernatural Investigations and agents, and all the rest of it. 

Overall, I would highly recommend Amari and the Night Brothers to readers of all ages, whether you're already a fan of the genre or not. I think it would make a great entry point into speculative fiction - and into reading in general - for a lot of people young and old.